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This week, the 20 families and couples affected by the sale, most of them on short-term tenancies, learned the closing date for bids was Nov 19.

Many say they cannot afford to bid for their homes, and those who can fear they cannot compete with city dwellers looking for a cottage in the country.

Estate workers, including foresters and gamekeepers, could lose their jobs as well as homes, and those facing eviction are said to be "ill with worry".

The tenants considered a community buy-out which would have attracted lottery money but were thwarted by the imminent closing date. Ironically, at a time of increasing community ownership, the tenants now hope the entire estate will be bought as a single lot - at a cost of £7.2 million - and the status quo maintained.

Gannochy, where Neville Chamberlain recuperated in 1938 after returning from Germany to declare "peace in our time", is being sold by Edinmore Properties, which is owned by Caledonian Investments, the investment vehicle of the Cayzer shipping and banking family.

It bought the estate from its former American owner this summer as a commercial opportunity, with the intention of breaking it up.

Nevertheless, Sir James Cayzer, of Kinpurnie Castle, near Dundee, has accused his relative Peter Buckley, chairman of Caledonia, of "dismembering" a prestigious property and damaging the family name.

But Angus Crow, director of Edinmore, said the firm was only doing what the Scottish Parliament wanted by breaking land into smaller units.

He expects the estate to be bought in chunks, perhaps with the wealthy individuals who buy the grouse shooting also bidding for gamekeepers' cottages.

Tenants were being offered the opportunity to buy, and it was unreasonable in a commercial world to suggest they should get preferential treatment.

Alastair Tyrie, 45, a potter, and his partner Mavis Pearce, 42, an artist, have lived in Wood of Dalbog Cottage - Lot 21, offers over £50,000 - for six years.

"We were given no warning our home was going on the market," said Mr Tyrie. We just heard it on the grapevine. To add insult to injury, they have offered £10 for each prospective buyer you show round the cottage.

Miss Pearce said: "People are ill over this. They didn't want to leave and they can't afford to buy. One couple at the top of the glen have been in their property for 16 years and have spent tens of thousands of pounds on it."

On a coffee table in their lounge, where the coal fire is the only source of heat, lies a petition bearing hundreds of names.

John Swinney, leader of the Scottish National Party, is one of the signatories. Beside the names are such comments as: totally unjust; abuse of power; profits before people; disgusting.

"It is too late for us but we would like people in other parts of Scotland to know what has happened here," said Miss Pearce. "Perhaps they can get ready to fight if the same thing is tried elsewhere."

The wife of one estate worker was so concerned about seen talking to a journalist that she insisted on being interviewed in a windowless outbuilding.

"We have been in our house for seven years. When my husband came here he was told he was safe. He was told nothing would happen to the house.

"I have been under constant stress since they decided to sell. There are dozens of cars driving up and down looking at our houses."

Margaret Keates-Burke, 47, a lecturer in Aberdeen whose home is a former schoolhouse in Glen Esk, is one of the few owner-occupiers in the area.

She said the sale threatened to replace a vibrant community with a glen of holiday homes.

"There aren't any properties here to buy, so if you love this place, and if you are a 'glenner' and belong to the glen, you have had no other chance over the years but to rent in order to stay here.

"These people have made a commitment to live and work here and they have rented properties even when they would prefer to buy, and they have spent money on the houses, and now the rug has been pulled out from under them.

"When this happens, people who have lived in the country all their lives may be forced to go to an urban environment and they will hate that."